Fight or Flight
by cathxfair7197
Summary: In every human, there's a fight or flight instinct. Hazel's has always been a flight to the crow's nest. So when her father has the worst news in a very long time, Sawyer needs to bring her back down.


In every living thing, there's a fight or flight instinct. You either confront the problem head on, or you run for the hills and hide from it. Hazel Haskett had always had the flight instinct. Not much upset her, but when she was hurt, she ran. So when Sawyer walked into the back area at Clearwater and saw Hazel tear in the other direction as her father called after her before throwing his hands in the air in exasperation, he knew that something bad had happened. And he panicked. Letting his backpack fall to the floor, he quickly wove his way through volunteers, keeping his eyes on Clay, who was walking in the other direction,

"Clay!" He shouted across the deck, but the doctor didn't turn. Sawyer increased his pace, "Clay!" This time he turned and a look of exhaustion and defeat was clearly painted on his face. Sawyer's stomach dropped a little more, "What happened? Is Winter ok? Did Hope flip again? Did-" Clay cut off the stream of panicked questions with a hand.

"No, Hope and Winter are fine. The animals are all fine," Clay sighed, "I told Hazel that I'm getting married." Sawyer took a step back, "I- you're- what?" In the three months that Sawyer had been away at SEA Semester, Clay had apparently fallen in love, which was great for everyone. Everyone except Hazel. And now, almost two months after his arrival home, Sawyer was rather taken aback at sudden proposal. He had no objections. He was happy for Clay, of course. The marine vet was the happiest Sawyer had ever seen him, and this was the man who'd saved a dolphin with no tail and an entire marine hospital with it. But Hazel hadn't taken well to the new woman and she'd become withdrawn, upset and irritable, jumping down Sawyer's and everyone else's throat about everything. Sawyer blinked and looked back at Clay, with whom he was now almost eye level to, "You're getting married?" He nodded and Sawyer sighed, "So that's what Hazel ran for," more to himself than anyone else. He vaguely heard Clay ask him to go talk to her, but Sawyer was already walking in the direction of the crow's nest. When Hazel ran, there was no question as to where she'd be.

* * *

><p>He heard sniffing and quiet sobs before he saw her. He looked up from the roof of the quirky little houseboat and sure enough, he could see the back of Hazel's blonde head and purple wet-shirt. He climbed the salt-sprayed rope latter and poked his head up above the platform,<p>

"Hey, can I come up?" Hazel looked up, face wet and eyes red. There was no hiding that she'd been crying, but she wiped her eyes and tried to dry her face anyways, "Yeah, come in or up or whatever." Sawyer pulled himself up the last few rungs and debated sitting right next to Hazel, before settling down a safe distance from her, "You doing ok?" Hazel nodded, wiping her eyes again before looking away. Sawyer tried again, "Clay told me about what happened." Hazel scoffed, "What happened? What happened is that he managed to fall in love in five months and propose to a woman he barely knows. Hasn't he forgotten Mom? The woman he built this hospital with? The woman he had _me_ with?" The end of her sentence broke and a sob wracked her frame. Sawyer jumped up and without thinking, wrapped his arms around her. She turned her face into his shoulder. Normally, the slightly socially inept and awkward teenager would have flinched at the reciprocation of contact from his best friend, of all people. Someone who he'd made a concerted effort to make sure that there was no question as to their _friendship, _despite some teasing from the older dolphin handlers; Phoebe had been especially brutal. But as the first friend he'd had in years soaked the shoulder of his Clearwater Staff wet-shirt, he just squeezed her a little and let her cry. "Look, I don't know a lot about dads, but I know your dad. It's been six years. He's done his grieving. And I don't know anything about girls, but I know that seeing my mom move on was hard at first. But she's happy now. No, she's not married or engaged, but she's happy. And Hazel, I know you. And I know that you want to see your dad happy. He's not replacing you and he's not replacing your mom. My mom says he's just filling a void that's been empty for a long time." Sawyer sighed a little, and the heave of his shoulders lifted Hazel's face, "Everyone's leaving and moving on. Even you left, and you promised Winter you wouldn't leave her. Dad is the only one who was the same and now he has his new girlfriend to marry. He doesn't need me, except as staff at the aquarium." _Even you left._ The words repeated over in his head. He'd had the time of his life at SEA Semester. He'd missed everyone at CMA, especially Winter and Hazel, but he'd gotten to spend three months doing what he loved. He pushed the words aside and sat back, removing his arm from Hazel's shoulders, "I left, yes. But I came back. Your dad is getting married, yes. But he needs you. You're always going to be the most important thing in his life. And I-" Sawyer trailed off, too embarrassed to finish. Hazel, who had hugged her knees to her chest, looked over at him and sniffed, "You what?" Sawyer wished he'd just kept his mouth shut and could feel red creeping up the back of his neck, but he still said, "I said I'm here for you. I promise." Hazel smiled at him and he flushed a little again. They were silent for a minute or two, the space between them filled with the Florida sea breeze and calls of Rufus, before Hazel spoke,

"Hey, Sawyer?" He looked away from the construction that was winding down, "Yeah?"

"When did you become such a dork?" Sawyer stared at her, "Right around the same time you became such a drama queen." Their laughter could be heard from the deck of the dolphin pools, and Clay smiled a little, relieved. Sawyer stood, and offered his hand to Hazel. She took it and he pulled her up before they made their way back to the aquarium, not before stopping to make sure Rufus hadn't discovered another turtle, and was truly just being insane.


End file.
